France June 2017: Peugeot 3008 up to #4, breaks market share record

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For the second month in a row, the French new car market displays a non-artificial gain with private sales beating the market. Overall, new registrations in June are up 1.6% year-on-year despite one less opening day to 230.940 units. Remarkably, this is the highest June volume this decade. Private sales are up 2.3% to 105.235 units, however remaining at a very low 45.6% market share. Company sales (including long-term leases) are up 8.1% to reach 21% share vs. 19.5% a year ago. For once, tactical sales decline this month in France – these include self-registrations, demo sales and short-term rentals. At 66.763 units, they drop 1.7 percentage point of market share, going from 30.7% in June 2016 to 29% now.

The Renault Captur is back up to #3 thanks to its facelift.

A traditional fan of tactical sales towards the end of the quarter, market leader Renault drops 7% year-on-year on a particularly high base in June 2016, hitting 22.9% market share vs. 20.3% year-to-date. Peugeot on the other hand posts a spectacular 13% year-on-year improvement, catching up on a weak performance in June 2016 as its market share (17.8%), is only marginally higher than so far in 2017. Both Citroen (-2%) and Volkswagen (-6%) lose volume despite renewed best-sellers (the C3 and Tiguan) while Dacia gains 3%. The rest of the Top 10 brands are entirely in positive territory: Ford (+6%), Toyota (+9%), Nissan (+9%), Fiat (+1%) and Mercedes surging 32% to lead the premium race above BMW (+6%) and Audi (+4%). Opel (-5%) disappoints and slips out of the Top 10. Other great performers in France in June include Skoda (+13%), Suzuki (+25%), Seat (+16%), Alfa Romeo (+73%), Porsche (+55%), Tesla (+32%) and Maserati (+23%).

The new Renault Scénic remains inside the Top 5 for the second straight month.

In the models ranking, the Renault Clio (+0.2%) maintains a very comfortable advantage – almost two percentage points of market share – over the Peugeot 208 up 9%. The Renault Captur, although down 4% year-on-year, is starting to feel the effects of its facelift: back up 6 spots on May to #3, and sees its private sales shoot up 13%. The Peugeot 3008 II leaps to a best-ever 4th place (also hit last January) and breaks its market share record at 3.8%. It is the all-out best-selling SUV at home this month. The Renault Scénic IV remains inside the Top 5 at #5, distancing the Peugeot 308 (-7%) while the Citroen C3 III is down four spots on last month to #7. The Peugeot 2008 is struggling: down 6% to #8, and the Dacia Sandero also: down 1% and losing the private sales pole position to the Renault Clio this month. Rounding out the Top 10, the Renault Mégane is worryingly down 25% year-on-year, with the Kadjar (-30%) and Twingo (-36%) also posting paltry performances.

The new Peugeot 5008 breaks into the Top 20 at home.

Among recent launches, the new Peugeot 5008 is up 33% on the previous generation and 9 spots on May to break into the Top 20 at #19, the new generation Nissan Micra is up 26 ranks on last month to #26, the Fiat Tipo up 183% to #29, the Toyota C-HR is down 10 ranks to #36, the Ford Ka+ up 41 to #51 and the new Renault Koleos down 15 to #79. Justifying the brand’s exceptional June performance, the Mercedes GLC is up 135% year-on-year to #48, with the C-Class up 22% and the GLA up 51%. Notice also the Ford Ecosport up 48% and the Suzuki Swift up 34%. Finally, the Opel Crossland is up 41 ranks to #109.